Dunedin architect Edmund Anscombe could fit this picture of a designer, an intellectual visionary.
Examples of his work still grace the Dunedin streetscape including the Gothic Revival red brick exuberance of Hanover Hall and the Edwardian Baroque beauty of the Allied Media building.
But beyond the bold facades, a driving force in the local architect’s imagination was perhaps less ionic columns and graceful arches and more dodgems and dazzling pleasure gardens.
A talk at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum by Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture senior lecturer Christine McCarthy suggested his architectural ambitions were driven by an abiding love of exhibitions.
Born in Sussex, England, in 1874, he was only an infant when he arrived in Dunedin with his sister and parents.
After attending Caversham School, he travelled to Melbourne aged just 14 to visit the Centennial Exhibition of 1888-89.
The exhibition building still stands and is a spacious structure supplemented by exhibitor sheds lined with "British colonial wonders".
"His enthralment with the Melbourne exhibition perhaps provided the seed, if not the impetus, for him to become an architect," Dr McCarthy said.
They moved in 1904 to St Louis for an opportunity to work on the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
"The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was not simply an indoor bustle of technological and agricultural ingenuity.
"It created new worlds of wonder, magic and delight and new architectural experiences for the New Zealanders."
Encompassing about two square miles (510ha), the exhibition included a festival hall with a dome to rival that of St Peter’s in Rome.
It featured a “Pike”, a large avenue of entertainment and amusement, an aviary with trees and pools of water and exhibitions showcasing technological innovation.
Mr Anscombe continued to explore his love of exhibitions after he returned to Dunedin and began his architectural practice.
Appointed as the official architect for the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, he had the opportunity to develop his ideas on a large scale.
Large lagoons reflected the dome of the festival hall and at night thousands of coloured lamps lit the dome, bandstand and entrance hall.
"Why were exhibitions so important to Anscombe?
"Throughout his life, he appears to be entranced by them.
"He frequently gave talks about exhibitions, wrote about exhibitions, visited exhibitions and collected books and other materials on exhibition architecture," Dr McCarthy said.
Mr Anscombe described his appointment as the official architect for the 1925-26 exhibition as realising "the ambition of my life".
"Over his life and in these many contexts, he identified very specific issues of commerce and employment, as well as the more intangible concepts of national spirit, commemorating anniversaries and promoting New Zealand internationally as arguments to hold exhibitions."
The talk was part of a series of lectures at Toitū Otago
Settlers Museum commemorating 100 years since the opening of the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition.
